A Time to Laugh – Part Three

“There is a time to laugh” Ecclesiastes 3: 4

“The One enthroned in heaven laughs…” Psalm 2: 4

There was a time when God brought His people out of bondage and back to their homeland. It was a joyous time of which it was said, “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them’” (Psalm 126).

Laughter is a verbal elixir. It is a gift of God. It brings rain to our drought-stricken lives.

Dr. W. Herschel Ford made these observations regarding laughter. “The word ‘laugh,’ in its various forms, is given thirty-eight times in the Bible. Sometimes laughter is right and sometimes it’s wrong. Sometimes it is a fool who is laughing. Sometimes it is God Himself.” If God laughed, so should we.

There is a study that shows the average 4-year old child laughs 300 times a day. By contrast, it takes over two months for the average 40-year old to laugh that many times. It is not until we are in our 70s that we start to recover our laughter instincts.  This being recognized there are laugh clubs. Members get together and start off making pretending laugh sounds. They keep it up until there is a transformation to real laughter. The components of laughter are there if we will normally release them when appropriate. Go ahead and laugh.

Let me offer you this bit of humor as a potential starter for your laughter reflex.

A Cajun had a large estate with a lake on the back of the property around which he had planted peach and pear trees. One day he got a big bucket and went down to gather some fruit. To his amazement there were some young adult females skinny dipping in the lake. They said, “We aren’t coming out until you leave.” He replied. “That is alright ladies, I am just going to be here for a short time, I just came down to feed the alligators.” Go on and laugh.

When was the last time you knew the grace of a deep laugh?

God’s enemies may plot against his will, “but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming” (Psalm 37:12–13). God laughs at those who set themselves against his will (Psalm 59:8). And when he laughs, he does so for our sake, to communicate to us. He laughs to give off signals — signals that are horrible to His enemies and reassuring for his friends. The most memorable instance is Psalm 2.

May the God of all grace meet you in your sighs and by the gift of grace fill you with fresh laughter. May the encouragement of His promises, the overflow of His joy, and His inexhaustible favor be yours. That is no laughing matter.